If the Super Bowl, the NFL's annual high-dollar extravaganza, is largely attractive to the expense-account crowd, think of the NFL draft, coming this weekend to Arlington, as an event for the everyday fan.

The 2018 NFL Draft comes to AT&T Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday — the first NFL draft to be held in a stadium. That will allow up to 24,000 select fans to be inside, close to the action, while thousands more participate in free events set up in three of the stadium's parking lots.

And the broad fan appeal means hotels at varying price points will have more chances to put heads in beds.

Everything you need to know about attending the NFL draft, NFL Draft Experience at AT&T Stadium

The Super Bowl, which last came to North Texas in 2011, "is a fantastic event and everybody loves the Super Bowl but that's an expensive event," said Matt Wilson, director of sports for the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau and a self-described "draft nerd."

"You don't buy a $50 ticket and go to the Super Bowl. It takes a lot of money. It's a different person in the building.

"The draft is ... for people to come out with their families, with their buddies, whoever and enjoy the largest free event that the NFL puts on.

"I'll tell ya, I couldn't on my own afford to go the Super Bowl and take my whole family. But can I take my entire family to the NFL draft? Absolutely. And they would have a great time."

In part, North Texans can thank Philadelphia fans for the opportunity.

When the draft was held there last year, largely at an outdoor venue, Philly fans flooded the streets, sending images of happy throngs via TV and social media across the globe.

"The crowd shots of a sea of people was something that was very exciting to the NFL," said Wilson, "and so other cities were like, 'We can do that.'"

Estimates of the anticipated crowd size in Arlington vary, but most expect it to exceed the 250,000 thought to have participated in Philly. There, the NFL Draft had a total estimated economic impact of $94.9 million, including direct spending by attendees and event organizers of $56.1 million.

About 17 percent of the fans in Philadelphia were out-of-town visitors who stayed in town overnight, according to the city's convention and visitors bureau. Attendees arrived from 42 states.

The NFL has said about 400,000 people have registered for the Arlington NFL Experience, the free outdoor portion of the weekend.

And Wilson expects a good number of those visitors will be needing a place to sleep.

"We've heard from our hotels that people are coming ... from all over," he said. "I'd say a really, really good portion of that crowd would be people from out of town. We're very confident that we'll have folks coming in from all over the country."

Greg White is president of the Hotel Association of North Texas and general manager of the Westin Galleria, which is about 25 miles from AT&T Stadium. But he said he's seeing a bump in demand for his hotel in part due to a ripple effect known in the industry as "compression."

That's when visitors in town for reasons other than the NFL fill up hotel rooms not occupied by fans.

"Compressing is pushing guests out to the suburban markets," said White.

"I definitely feel the benefit of having the NFL draft and the attendees here," he said, adding that the surge has boosted the average room rate. "It's a much more robust room rate than what we would normally get," during this time, he said. "We're not having to discount."

In Philadelphia, hotel room revenue gained 11.4 percent compared with the same days in the previous year. That gain resulted in $2.1 million in incremental hotel room revenue, according to that city's visitors bureau.

White said his average room rate for Friday is up about 12 percent from a year ago.

The headquarters and official hotels for the 2018 draft are in Dallas and Arlington. Due to security concerns, officials with the Dallas Sports Commission declined to say which ones.

The commission is managing the event volunteer program, coordinating with the NFL on a transportation system for attendees, and providing a marketing, branding and awareness campaign within the region.

It is also "providing use of venues." Officials with the commission and with AT&T Stadium declined to give out information on any funds paid for use of the stadium.

Backers of the event secured a pledge of more than $2.5 million through the state's Major Events Trust Fund to help offset costs. That includes up to $2.2 million from the state and $348,000 from local sources. The sports commission estimates that North Texas will top the $56 million in direct spending seen in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia pegged that city's cost at about $500,000 to cover "anything the city spent," ranging from first-responder services to streets cleanup, special events and health inspectors in the food tents, according to a report on Philly.com.

Since that event was largely outdoors, there was no stadium lease to secure.

Many of the weekend's events in Arlington have sponsors including Bridgestone, Courtyard and Plano-based Pizza Hut, newly selected as the league's official pizza partner. Sponsorship dollars generally help offset costs. The NFL declined to reveal costs or sponsor contributions.

Meanwhile, local hotels were prepping Thursday for an influx of football fans.

"This is a great piece of business for us," White said, "a great win for the city."